Mental Health

A panel of medical experts suggest that adults should be screened for depression by their primary care physician. The proposal will be open for public comment until August 24. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that adults be screened in doctors' offices if staff-assisted depression care is available.

High blood sugar associated with prediabetes may increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests. The study, published online in JAMA Neurology, involved researchers conducting memory tests on 150 adults with no mental impairments, at average age of 61. The researchers also measured insulin resistance and had the participants undergo a PET brain scan.

A new series of studies suggests that women's brains may be more vulnerable to contracting Alzheimer's disease than men. The studies were presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Washington, D.C. Another study suggests that women's daily activities and cognitive abilities decline faster than men's after undergoing surgery with general anesthesia.

Those in the funeral industry who frequently use formaldehyde in embalming fluid may be at an increased risk of developing ALS, according to a new study from researchers at the Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. The study focused specifically on male funeral directors.

The effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, may increase chances of heart attack and stroke in women, according to a new study. Researchers looked at nearly 55,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study II, a long-term study of young women that began in 1989. In 2008, the researchers asked the women to fill out surveys about traumatic events they had experienced in the last 20 years.

Weaker working memory can increase the risk of both early sexual activity and unprotected sexual involvement during adolescence, according to research conducted at the University of Oregon. The study, published in the journal Child Development, found that teens with weaker working memory - the brain system that helps make decisions - are more prone to risky behaviors.

High school football players are at double the risk for migraine headaches than their non-football playing brethren, according to two studies conducted at Norton Healthcare's Sports Concussion Program in Louisville and the Florida Center for Headache and Sports Neurology. Seifert suggested that a new approach needs to be taken with at risk student athletes.